Adams Beautification Group Marking Five Years of Service
ADAMS, Mass. — For five years, the Beautification Group has been making the town look better.
This year, it also helped residents learn a little about the town's history.
"The board of Adams Beautification wanted to develop something special for the 250th celebration, so it supported my idea for a colonial kitchen garden," Julie Wilk-Chaffee said last Wednesday. "We did a lot of research to see how authentic we could make it."
The garden, at the corner of Depot and Hoosac Streets, "represents something very important to our early colonists," Wilk-Chaffee continued. "They did have fields where they planted their vegetables, but next to the kitchen, they had a little garden that featured a mix of medicinal plants, household plants and culinary herbs. … In fact, the only medicine that would have been available to early settlers came from these gardens."
Wilk-Chaffee joined two of her fellow Beautification Group members in an appearance before the Selectmen to update the elected officials on the non-profit's activities around town and explain its role in town.
"I guess we've discovered some confusion with the general public," Debbie Nowicki told the board. "We wanted to clarify what we do from what the town does. We like to think of ourselves as partners, working with the DPW and the Northern Berkshire Events Committee on the townwide cleanup. Our mission and goal is to enhance what other groups are doing."
While the town has a line item in its budget that accounts for some flowering plants, the Beautification Group has taken on projects like the Columbia Street rotary, the "pocket park" next to AJ's Trailside Pub and gardens at the Visitor's Center, Nowicki said.
"As volunteers, we use all our own equipment at no cost to the town," she said. "We want to assure everyone we're totally volunteer.
"To maintain the gardens, we use donated plant material or money from people who are able to contribute. The DPW crew has helped us, in the past, with heavier duty jobs, like moving plant material we can't physically move."
Mary Parker told the board that the Beautification Group has attained 501(c)3 status in order to receive tax-deductible donations.
The volunteers' efforts have not gone unnoticed.
The 2024 annual Town Report was dedicated to the Beautification Group, calling it, "a devoted team of volunteers whose tireless efforts bring life and color to our community."
"Even without being asked, you step forward with creativity, commitment, and pride," the report's dedication continues. "Your dedication sets an inspiring example of community spirit in action."
Members of the select board echoed the town's appreciation on Wednesday night.
"I was in a restaurant this weekend, and there were out-of-towners who were blown away by the roundabout and the Hoosac Street thing," Kelly F. Rice said. "I think you guys do a great job."
The Beautification Group's update was part of a busy agenda for the select board that included a discussion of how the board plans to go about finding Adams' next police chief.
The agenda also included two public hearings, one to consider the installation and relocation of utility poles on Walling Road and one to determine whether three dogs located in a residence at 92 East Hoosac St. should be deemed "dangerous dogs" and subjected to remedial action.
The National Grid and Vierzon pole project was OK'd on a 4-0 vote without any discussion. The dangerous dog hearing was continued to the board's Aug. 19 meeting at the request of one of the parties involved.
The board also voted 4-0 to ratify the promotion of Brenden Scott to the position of Operator 1 at the Department of Public Works, and it granted four one-day liquor licenses and an entertainment license for events planned around town over the next few months.
Town Clerk Haley Meczywor was before the board to get its approval of the slate of election workers who will help run three elections over the next 12 months: the Sept. 1 statewide primary, the Nov. 3 general election and spring's annual town election. The board also took the procedural step of approving the warrant for the Sept. 1 primary.
Meczywor told the board that her office had mailed out 700 vote-by-mail ballots as of Wednesday.
"If you asked for a ballot a week or a week and a half ago and haven't received it, please call our office," she said for the benefit of the audience watching Wednesday's meeting on Gateway Collaborative Media, the entity formerly known as Northern Berkshire Community Television.
Meczywor reported that the deadline to register to vote or to change one's party affiliation before the primary is Saturday, Aug. 22, and the clerk's office will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day, also the first day of early voting, which will continue Aug. 24-28 during regular business hours, she said.
In-person voting on primary day will be from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Adams Memorial Building at 30 Columbia St.
Tags: beautification, election 2026,
